“And now let us have a look at a modern Ukrainian. Ukrainians are mostly down-to-earth people and not given to artificiality. Rarely – if ever – will you see us wearing a fake smile; only our natural feelings are stamped on our faces. Instead, our passions burn low but strong and steady. True, we have a tendency to be moody. One minute we may be sad and introspective, and then the next thing you know we’re full of unbridled optimism and infectious vitality. Our sense of humour is bitingly ironical.” (Ukraine, I Wrote About)

If you would like to meet autumn, then you should quickly get out of your office or house or flat and head straight to some nearby park or forest. Mr Autumn is here and in his playful mood, which means that trees have already taken their colorful golden outfits.

Summer is finally on its holiday and we can happily inhale fresh autumn air. Frankly I am in love with Fall season and would like to enjoy its every detail.

This is the golden season for most beautiful scenes and colors! Grab your camera!

Currently, it is very popular to claim that many Ukrainian dishes are popular abroad and have their equivalents in many cultures. We should not spend too much time in proving who was first to put meat into the dough and boil it to make varenyky – which are stuffed dumplings. It is much more important to add something new to every dish to make it unique. For example, Ukrainians prefer adding potatoes or various fruits to varenyky. Where else you can find such stuffing?

Borsch definitely has a long history in Ukraine and there is no point in trying to clarify that there was someone else who discovered it. If you could taste borsch cooked in the eighteenth century you would hardly recognize it. Back then, the main ingredients were sour beetroots, but without any tomatoes, which gave it its distinctive sour flavour. Nowadays this flavour is achieved with the help of sour tomatoes. Also, initially borsch did not contain any potatoes but now you will not find it without them.

It happened that after the dissolution of the USSR many Ukrainians’ achievements, including culinary ones, were inherited, or perhaps I should say stolen, by Russia.

In the southern part of Ukraine you would not find any women in a kitchen. For instance, only male Crimean Tatars cooked rice and fried meat on a fire and no women were allowed to enter the “sacred” place.

As for table traditions, it was the Ukrainian custom for the whole family to sit at the table. The father was usually the first to help himself to the food, and often everyone ate from one plate, as there was a distinct lack of flatware in many peasant families. Having dinner or lunches together as a family was traditional not only in the countryside but in the city as well. Soviet authorities did their best to ruin such rituals by introducing the cafeteria system at factories that encourage workers to dine together. Eating was seen as being important only to satisfy the physiological need of humans for protein and carbohydrates. Tasting the food’s flavour and enjoying it was unimportant. The employees should simply eat well to work well.

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I can boast about my latest reviews:

R Henry
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ukraine, I Wrote About worth a read.
September 30, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Very enjoyable read. A concise view of Ukraine by a Ukrainian. A brief history of the country, the people, cuisine, fashion, customs, and culture, presented deftly by the author. So much unique information such as the last toast at the table is known as “na konya”, meaning “for the horse” along with the history of the phrase. The author’s love for her country comes shining through and the reader will come away with a greater appreciation and knowledge of Ukraine. I highly recommend.

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
About Ukraine from first hands
September 11, 2018
Format: Paperback
The book is very interesting and entertaining book. It is not a novel and not a travel guide! It is more. If you are curious about the country, Ukraine, or ukrainian people, habits, places and food (I am culinary dependent), then you should read. You will not regret to read. The Ukrainian author provides information about her country from her special point of view with full of patrionism. Reading the book you will find interesting information and facts about the whole country. If you could not travel there, through the book still you will receive a nice and complete picture about Ukraine!
Congratulations for the author!

I am happy to announce that my book is available in Apple Books on Your Mac or IOS device, please click here: https://itunes.apple.com/book/id1436577838

Let’s peep into Chapter 2 entitled FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE THE MOST LASTING:

Franz Kafka said, “First impressions are always unreliable”. Thus, I would urge you to visit – or re-visit – Ukraine with a view to changing any negative impression you may have formed. Let me invite you to my mysterious country. Let me guide you – I know you are intrigued. Every word you read here should make you hungry for more. That is my intention, and I will provide you with everything your capricious soul desires. We will have an unforgettable journey around my country:

My book is on Amazon but it means that this is only the beginning, still much work that should be done. Advertising and marking are two new fields where I am a rookie. However, I can boast about some reviews that have recently appeared in my author page.

I am very grateful for this positive review, it means a lot to me.

I confess that advertising is not that easy as I expected. It takes a lot of efforts and money as well.

Also, you have to study what are the most efficient ways of advertising and marketing. You not only need to attract the readers’ attention but also reach the targeted reader and that’s the most difficult to me. How do I know who would be interested to read my book, people are so different, the same is with their book preferences. A dilemma, isn’t it? I do not give up and I know that the hardest is waiting for me yet.

Until I would like to share with you some excerpts from the first chapter of my book Ukraine, I Wrote About that is available on Amazon as paperback and ebook. Do not forget to have a look (in case you didn’t do it yet)!

In Ukrainian the name of my country sounds as Україна using the Slavic alphabet. If I split this word into two halves, then I get U kraina or U kraini meaning “at the country”. That is it, at my country, I live at my country and I was born at my country. That is pretty simple and clear. I do not need to search for any extra meaning.

Ukrainian historians have already found several hints of how to interpret the name of our country. For instance, Olexander Paliy holds the idea that it was synonymous with “princedom” or “land”. Another Ukrainian historian, Ivan Ogiienko, insists that it was used to name the frontier Pereyaslav land or even other Kyiv lands. The Canadian historian of Ukrainian origin, Orest Subtelnuy, thought that Ukraine geographically meant Kyiv border. Vitalyi Sklyarenko says that the letter “у” in many languages, particularly in Ukrainian, means not close to, but inside. Many Ukrainian researchers are of the opinion that the word “Ukraine” consists of two parts: “kraina” and “u” denoting “home land”, an antonym to “foreign land”.

Today I would like you to let you in… my inner world that is sometimes unknown even for me. This book helped me to reveal that I simply love the country where I was born and where my heart belongs to. These are not words, these are true feelings. While being even far from Ukraine I feel that I am bonded with my motherland. And this bond cannot be broken ever. I will cite you something “Ukraine has its Ann and Ann has her Ukraine“. I guess this one sentence has its all. I never thought that I can love the place where I live so much. I always wanted to travel and perhaps live in the other country, I didn’t suspect that I can be so attached to my Ukraine.

I would not like to tease you or take your time from reading my book…however, reading my book might give you a chance to understand who Ukrainians are, why we live a bit outside from Europe, why we have our hybrid undeclared war with Russia, and what we eat for breakfast (perhaps the most interesting). I tried to present you a full picture without hiding its ugly part (as much as I can) and yet I wanted to make my country attractive to you, as well as invite you to visit it one day.

There will be surprises such as desperate meetings with my Euterpe or spontaneous outpouring of emotions (funny or serious). One more bonus is that you will not only be able to chat with Ann while flipping through my book, but also enjoy the illustrations created to entertain you.

Anyway, do not consider me immodest please, I am sure that “Ukraine, I Wrote About” won’t let you indifferent…

Hope to find you, my little Friends, among my Readers! Your reviews are the best reward for my work! It means a lot to me! Please spread a word on my book!

I bet many of you cannot afford a lot of travelling as it costs money. Yes, it is, and sometimes not small money, especially for Ukrainians who live for salary or, better to say, survive. Nowadays travelling, even if planned beforehand, means saved money that can be freely spent. I have a feeling that not everyone in EU or US can also have extra money for travel. Many of us have bills and credits to pay, thus we have to think before spending a hard-earned cent. However, world develops so fast that everything looks easier now. Have you ever heard of low-budget travelling?

That’s it. This seems to be a new concept that has already worked for many tourists. Not everyone is ready to face its disadvantages as cheap flights, snoring or noisy neighbors at hostels, and tiredness from long-walks. Let yourself imagine all the advantages of such way of travelling. The number one is that you will be able to discover the places that you saw only on the pages of your favorite travel guide. The second, not less important, is that you are likely to meet new people who speak different language, but with whom you will certainly make good friends. At last, you will experience the enchanted moments of face-to-face lovely talks. Social networks cannot replace face-to-face chats. Thirdly, while traveling on a low budget you will appreciate the little things such as hot meals, soft beds, transportation after a few hours of waiting. Finally, you will pass a test for any unpredictable situations and explore yourself. Some of you may fall in love even. That’s what low-budget travelling can offer you. It is not a perfect solution, but an option. The choice is yours. All I want to say is that our wishes must not have any restrictions. I vote for “nothing is impossible to a willing heart”.

Where are you now, my Friends? Any news? I’ve got news – I am holding the proof of my book…

I am excited to announce a new series of posts based on my journal notes made in Alps. Everything I saw, felt, experienced, liked and disliked. Only my thoughts and only for you…

“When I travel I explore…myself. Curious wanderer. That’s how I would describe myself, my life right now. I have wandering soul hungry for a perfect place, an ideal moment, and a great shot. My wandering soul brought me there. A little village between Austrian Alps is not in the must-visit places, but I found there something that none of famous mountains resorts can offer me…”